Mental health articles

At present, social networks are subject to profound transformation.Electronic communication enables many individuals tomeet friends without personal contact. However, it seems unclearwhether these virtual social networks exert similar effects onhealth outcomes as the real-world encounters. This issue seems important, since socialnetwork size is reflected by the amygdala, a brain structure that isinvolved in governing the stress response.Preliminary results indicate that electronic friends may also shapethe functioning of distinct brain structures.However, it is unclear whether there is an urban-rural difference inthis process.

Furthermore, it has not been clarified whether urban life, ascompared to living in a rural environment, is associated withincreased social stress. Thus, animportant link in the chain of arguments explaining increasedschizophrenia risk associated with city living is missing. The concept of social capital, describing features of social life thatenable participants to act together more effectively, fits in well as afactor that protects against social stress. Butagain, the urban-rural contrast is unknown.

Overcrowding has been proposed as another factor promoting increased social stress in cities. Neuroscientific observations indicatethat the amygdala is also linked with sense of personal space. It has been observed that living in a densely populated area was associated with a feeling of loss of control, afactor that has been identified as a negative promoter of mental health. However, methodological obstacleshave blurred the clarity of this observation, as overcrowding isoften associated with socioeconomic deprivation, increased violence and an increased feeling of threat and danger.

Lack of green zones constitutes another factor how social stressmay negatively affect mental health in urban areas. Access to green space may attenuate the level ofperceived stress by several mechanisms, including physical activity,which is often associated with attendance to green space and hasitself positive effects on emotional well-being, and attenuation ofstress levels by direct interaction with nature.Environmental pollutants and other factors may exert unspecificun favourable effects on mental functioning that modifies social interaction. For example, airplane traffic noise decreases children’s’capacity of learning and memory. In ananimal model, air pollution was associated with deficits of mental functioning. In this way, chronic exposure tothese environmental pollutants of urban life may change the socialcapacity and lead to increased susceptibility to social stress. Alternatively,pollutants like carbon monoxide or benzene may act directly on the central nervous system, causing subtle deficits that predispose individuals to mental disorders.Infectious agents and malnutrition constitute other environmental factors that may induce subtle brain damage. For example, indensely populated urban areas, increased transmission of influenza and rubella viruses may damage the nervous system during its development, leading to the cascade of eventsdetailed above.

Tags: stress